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Thanks to search engines, most simple facts don’t need to be remembered. They can be accessed with a few keystrokes, plucked from ubiquitous server-stored external memory — and that may be changing how our own memories are maintained. A study of 46 college students found lower rates of recall on newly-learned facts when students thought those facts were saved on a computer for later recovery.

One small but intriguing effect in the new study involved students who were less able to identify subtly manipulated facts, such as a changed name or date, when drawing on memories they thought were saved online.

Teaching is not simply presenting ideas and insights, nor filling students’ heads with what we know or transmitting information. Learning is not just committing facts to memory but the ability to critique, synthesise, analyse, use and apply information.

The addition of greater interactivity is essential to make knowledge transfer in universities more meaningful in today’s world

. But how do we integrate the digital world’s resources into classroom-based learning?

Taking notes during class? Topic-focused study? A consistent learning environment? All are exactly opposite of the best strategies for learning.

Historypin is a non-profit website and mobile app aimed at sparking inter-generational conversation and interest in history. The concept is simple: It uses Google Maps to “pin” old photographs to their location.

The site enables users to create questionnaires and then get the recipients of the questionnaire to leave video recorded answers.

How to use Intervue.me with studentsCreate comprehension check questions to go with reading homework so that students also do some speaking for homework.Create opinion polls for students to answer.Make action research questionnairesPlay the alibi game and get students to explain where they were and what they were doing at particular points in time.Ask students about childhood memories.